Business Advisory & Operations Consulting
Structure for how the workactually gets done.
Practical support for business owners who need stronger structure, clearer processes, better documentation, and a more organized way to operate. We help you define how work should be organized, documented, assigned, and improved.
Clarify who does what, then write it down.
Most operational problems are not effort problems. They are structure problems — unclear responsibility, undocumented steps, and handoffs that only work when the right person is in the room.
Clarify who is responsible for what
Document how work should be performed
Reduce confusion and inconsistent practices
Create repeatable processes
Improve handoffs and accountability
Prepare the business for growth
What you can hire us to do
Engagements are scoped individually. Most clients start with one priority area and expand from there.
01
Business Formation & Operational Setup
Getting a new business organized before habits harden.
May include
- Formation and startup-readiness guidance
- Registration and setup checklists
- Initial roles and responsibilities
- Operating structure
- Financial-system considerations
- Basic workflow setup
- Compliance-calendar planning
Montgomery Advisory does not provide legal advice or attorney services.
02
Business Operations Assessment
For when you know something isn't working, but not yet what to fix.
May include
- Organizational structure
- Roles and responsibilities
- Administrative processes
- Financial operations
- Existing policies and procedures
- Technology and systems
- Documentation gaps
- Operational risks
- Growth readiness
An assessment often leads to a recommended follow-on engagement, scoped once the picture is clear.
03
Standard Operating Procedures
A policy says what is expected. An SOP says exactly how it gets done.
May include
- Documenting repeatable business processes
- Defining responsibilities and approvals
- Creating clear step-by-step instructions
- Identifying required records and handoffs
- Supporting consistency and training
Common subjects: accounts payable, accounts receivable, client onboarding, vendor onboarding, purchasing, payroll processing, month-end close, document retention, and service-delivery procedures.
04
Policies & Procedures Manuals
Policies establish the expectation; procedures carry it out.
May include
- Financial-management policies
- Purchasing and approval policies
- Expense reimbursement
- Cash handling
- Record retention
- Confidentiality and data handling
- Vendor management
- Delegation of authority
- Conflict-of-interest policies
05
Job Descriptions & Organizational Structure
Clarify who is responsible for what — and what falls between roles today.
May include
- Job descriptions
- Role profiles
- Reporting relationships
- Organizational charts
- Responsibility matrices
- Staffing-gap reviews
- Role handoffs
- Separation-of-duties considerations
The client remains responsible for legal, HR, classification, compensation, and employment-law review.
06
Process Mapping & Workflow Improvement
Look at how the work actually moves before deciding how it should.
May include
- Current-state process documentation
- Workflow mapping
- Bottleneck identification
- Role and handoff analysis
- Approval-point review
- Future-state process design
- Improvement recommendations
- Implementation roadmaps
07
Commercial Real Estate Financial Readiness
Before a business takes on a major property obligation, the numbers need to make sense.
May include
- Business financial statements
- Business tax returns
- Cash flow
- Existing debt obligations
- Liquidity and reserves
- Profitability trends
- Bookkeeping readiness
- Documentation gaps
- Projected property-related costs
- Financial impact of a potential acquisition or lease
- Questions to discuss with lenders, attorneys, brokers, or other professionals
This is a business advisory service. It is not commercial loan underwriting, loan approval, property appraisal, commercial brokerage, or legal advice.
08
Implementation & Change Support
Optional help putting the finished work into practice.
May include
- Rollout planning
- Staff orientation
- Management briefings
- Procedure implementation
- Follow-up meetings
- Document revisions
- Adoption reviews
Implementation support is separately scoped.
Which service do I need?
A short guide, in the words most owners use when they call.
You may need Operations Assessment when:
- You know the business feels disorganized but are unsure where to begin
- Several areas need attention at once
- Existing documentation is incomplete or inconsistent
You may need SOP Development when:
- Employees perform the same task differently
- Key processes depend on one person's memory
- Training and onboarding are inconsistent
You may need Policies & Procedures when:
- Rules and approval expectations are unclear
- The business lacks documented operating standards
- Management wants consistent guidance across the organization
You may need Job Descriptions & Organizational Structure when:
- Responsibilities overlap
- Important tasks fall between roles
- Reporting relationships are unclear
- The business is preparing to hire or grow
You may need Process Improvement when:
- Work is delayed
- Handoffs are confusing
- There are repeated bottlenecks or duplicate steps
- The current workflow no longer fits the business
How the process works
The same path every time, so you always know where the work stands.
01
Understand the need
We discuss the business, the current challenges, the outcomes you want, and the documentation you already have.
02
Define the scope
We determine whether the work can be scoped directly or whether an operations assessment should come first.
03
Develop the solution
We review, analyze, document, and develop the agreed work products.
04
Review and refine
You review drafts and provide feedback within the agreed revision process.
05
Finalize and support implementation
Final documents are delivered, with optional implementation support when it's included in the engagement.
Examples of Deliverables
What you're left holding at the end of an engagement.
Final deliverables depend on the approved engagement scope.
- Standard operating procedures
- Policy and procedure manuals
- Job descriptions
- Organizational charts
- Roles and responsibilities matrices
- Process maps
- Workflow narratives
- Operations assessment reports
- Improvement roadmaps
- Implementation plans
- Business startup and operational checklists
Commercial Real Estate Financial Readiness
Before a business takes on a major property obligation, the numbers need to make sense.
Montgomery Advisory helps business owners review financial readiness, cash flow, records, and documentation before entering commercial real estate financing or acquisition discussions.
The question we help answer is a practical one: do the business financials and records appear organized enough to support a major commercial real estate decision — and if not, what needs attention first.
Review areas may include
- Business financial statements
- Business tax returns
- Cash flow
- Existing debt obligations
- Liquidity and reserves
- Profitability trends
- Bookkeeping readiness
- Documentation gaps
- Projected property-related costs
- Financial impact of a potential acquisition or lease
- Questions to discuss with lenders, attorneys, brokers, or other professionals
This service is business advisory work. It is not commercial loan underwriting, loan approval, mortgage approval, property appraisal, commercial brokerage, or legal advice.
Buying a home personally? Homebuyer Financial Readiness covers the individual side.
A separate service
Looking for commercial real estate representation?
Montgomery Advisory can help business owners evaluate financial readiness for a commercial real estate decision, including cash flow, financial statements, tax records, existing obligations, and other financial considerations. Real estate brokerage and property representation are separate services.
Opens meccarealty.properties — the separate website of Mecca Realty, Inc., a real estate brokerage. You are leaving Montgomery Advisory, LLC.
Real Estate Disclosure
Dr. Fatima Douglas is a Maryland-licensed real estate salesperson, License No. 668491, affiliated with Mecca Realty, Inc. Any real estate brokerage or representation services are provided separately through Mecca Realty, Inc. and are not services of Montgomery Advisory, LLC. There is no requirement that a Montgomery Advisory client work with Mecca Realty, Inc.
Montgomery Advisory, LLC provides financial education and advisory services and does not act as a mortgage lender, mortgage broker, loan originator, underwriter, appraiser, credit repair company, or law firm.
Business Advisory or Internal Audit & Controls?
They sit next to each other, and clients often need both — but they answer different questions.
Business Advisory
Organizing, documenting, and improving how work is performed.
Example: writing an accounts-payable SOP.
Internal Audit & Internal Controls
Identifying risks, designing controls, evaluating control effectiveness, and testing whether controls operate as intended.
Examples: evaluating whether payment approvals are adequately designed; testing whether approvals were consistently performed.
Related reading: Internal Audit, Internal Controls & Risk Management, Business Formation & Structure, and Financial Management for the accounting processes behind daily operations.
Frequently asked
- What is the difference between a policy and an SOP?
- A policy establishes expectations, requirements, or authority. An SOP provides the step-by-step method for carrying out a specific process.
- Can Montgomery Advisory create one SOP or a full set?
- Yes. Engagements may cover one priority process, a package of related SOPs, or a broader documentation project.
- Do you provide legal or HR advice?
- No. Montgomery Advisory provides business, operational, accounting, and advisory support. Clients remain responsible for legal, employment-law, classification, and HR review where applicable.
- What if I am not sure which service I need?
- We may recommend a Business Operations Assessment before defining a larger engagement, so the scope reflects what the business actually needs.
- Can you improve an existing process before documenting it?
- Yes. Process mapping and workflow-improvement services can evaluate and redesign a process before final procedures are developed.
- Do you help implement the documents?
- Implementation support may be included as a separate phase or a follow-on engagement.
- Do you approve commercial real estate financing?
- No. Montgomery Advisory helps business owners review their financial readiness and documentation before financing or acquisition discussions.
- Can you review business financial statements and tax returns?
- Yes, when included in the engagement scope.
- Can Commercial Real Estate Financial Readiness be combined with Business Advisory or Financial Management?
- Yes, when the needs are related and separately scoped.
Not sure where to begin? Start with the conversation.
We can help determine whether your needs can be scoped directly or whether a Business Operations Assessment is the best first step.